Shadowed Reality
by WayToPretty
Summary: Cerrera. Antonnio Cerrera. Also know by many as Iron Man. They are names whispered both fearfully and reverently across the world as they belong to a man known to be as cold and unrelenting as his moniker. The story of Antonnio Cerrera is one that is long and colored, full of pain, misery and darkness. This is his story.


Walking into the ballroom within the infamous Smith residence, any one person would be in awe at the beauty resounding within the room.

Beginning at the entrance, guests would enter the glamorous Smith mansion, being directed to the ball room where they then descended down an elegant red staircase, leaving the various other guests attending the event to gaze upon them.

After the descent down the red staircase, you would stare at the golden drapes showcasing the view from the mansion. The view was simple yet breathtaking. Looking out you would see the night sky shining with glittering stars that touched the serene waters of the ocean.

However, not only was the view simple, so was the ballroom that was filled with the most prestigious, power-hungry and bloodthirsty individuals known to man. The ballroom simply had a dance floor, tables lined across the sides of the room, a small bar to appeal to those who needed that hit of liquor; however the best part of the room? Was once entering the ballroom you would become illuminated by the candlelight chandelier, as well as the various other candles around the room, cascading a glow that highlighted the best of any individual within that room. Not only would the decorations highlight the beauty and the grace of the guests but so would their clothing. Every individual within that mansion were dressed to impress, hoping to ensure that not only would they secure a place within the Smith inner-circle of operations but to also upscale their own worth and reputation amongst the powerful society within the room.

But despite the self-indulgent individuals attending the event, there was one who did not belong in that room.

Said-man was lounging at the bar, with a smirk on his face, amusement shining in his eyes as he slowly drank his glass of hard whiskey.

Amusement shone within his eyes for he knew something that would shake every single person in the room to their very core. Because by the end of the night, there would be no more pathetic attempts of gaining power and status.

No, because the man knew a _storm_ was coming, and by the end of the night there will only be two things left behind at the Smith mansion.

_Chaos._

_And._

_Desolation._

XXX

"Is everyone clear as to just how fundamental this operation is?" asked Agent Coulson.

The few agents within the briefing room understood the importance of the upcoming mission and were wary to say the least. Despite the fact that they were the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division's – SHIELD for short – most competent agents did not comfort them what so ever because the mission that they had been assigned to, was to take down and bring in one of the world's most dangerous men.

But not only was he dangerous, he was cunning, sharp and was the only one who whilst being hunted, was capable of concealing himself from SHIELD's watchful eye for the past three years, which is impossible but the man was know to defy the odds.

However, the man had made far too many enemies in his years of business so when SHIELD was offered Intel by the Don of the Black Mafia to ensure the defeat of the infamous Iron Man they did not hesitate to agree. After all everyone within the governmental intelligence world knew that Director Fury was _furious_ at the man's ease of escaping them.

So.. They had to take down a man who was known to be one of the worlds's most prime assassins; it was going to be fucking difficult and if they screw up? Their asses will be dealt with _personally_ by Director Fury.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

Having finished going over every detail of the mission at least twice, Agent Coulson looked over his team for the op; he could see the wariness within three of the five agents assigned to this operation.

But within the other two?

He could see the anticipation and adrenaline building up within them. Hawkeye and his partner, the Black Widow were SHIELD's undeniable favorites, their go to agents. After all, they would always get the job done no matter the circumstances. And the two, being given this assignment? To bring in _The Iron Man_, well they were interested and dare they say it, excited too.

Because despite the fact that they both held bitterness to their days before SHIELD, they knew that the Iron Man had surpassed both of their reputations from the past and both enjoyed the idea of taking him down.

And as the briefing drew to an end and everyone moved to prepare and suit up, the Black Widow and her partner Hawkeye both exchanged a feral smirk as anticipation build up within them for what was to come.

XXX

Silently slinking across the room, the man known as the infamous Iron Man locked eyes with his target for phase one in his _incredibly genius_ plan. He smirked, the target was a man whose desires were oh so pathetic, but he would open up the doors of chaos for the night; however when he proceeded to walk across the room, his phone beeped three times, meaning only one thing.

SHIELD was in the mansion.

Retrieving his phone from his pocket, he opened up the security cameras spread across the mansion. Having read everything and anything to do with SHIELD after hacking their systems, he was able to recognize the six SHIELD agents within the mansion.

_Fuck._

A lot was riding on tonight and if he could not pull it off then not only would he be running again, he would not be able to get out of this business. To escape this life that he had chosen for himself so long ago. The decision of getting out of this particular business was instantaneous after his last target and if there was one thing that those who knew him the best could agree on was that he was one stubborn son of a bitch and when he had made his mind up, nothing could ever change it.

The previous certainly the assassin held for his flawless plan crumbled underneath him, leaving him reeling. He now had to factor in SHIELD into his plans and Fury had definitely turned up the heat this time. After all sending in the Black Widow _and_ Hawkeye, oh and lets not forget about Fury's right hand man, Coulson. Tonight will prove to be difficult but he wasn't known as a genius for nothing and he _will_ pull of tonight even if it killed him, he thought to himself.

Pulling out his phone once again, as it beeped once, signaling a new text message, he read the contents causing laugher to bubble up within him. Holding the laughter within him, he moved to blend into the shadows becoming a ghost once more. And as he blended into the shadows, he ran over his new plan. A plan that would be amusing to say the least.

Staring back at the wealthy individuals conversing within the ballroom, he once again gazed upon his target for phase one. Despite the other not knowing that he was being watched, the assassin gave him a nod. A nod that not many ever received from the man who lived up to his moniker so beautifully_._ The nod signified nothing more than a sign of freedom. For the two words written within the text message not only granted the mans freedom from within his web of games for the night but it also meant that things were going to get a whole lot more interesting.

After all, he was about to be 'caught' by SHIELD.

XXX

"Report," growled Agent Coulson into the comm. system that linked him to all of his agents. Since entering the Smith mansion, the agent's nerves started building. Agent Phil Coulson, whose reputation made him out to be unflappable was able to admit to himself – and only himself – that the notorious assassin that he was to contain was definitely someone who struck sparks of caution within him. Since he had joined SHIELD, not _one_ individual was able to assassinate and stay of their radar as well as The Iron Man did. And here he was, in the same building as him, leading a team to capture him.

Hearing his agents report in and confirming their assigned areas as clear, Coulson moved to enter the ballroom. The image taken of the assassin nearly three years ago, in Rio flashed into his mind. That picture taken from a hotel camera told Coulson more about the assassin than any profiler ever could. The image showed the confidence that resounded within him, the smirk dancing upon his lips and the hand trapped within his locks of blond hair that pulled off that carefree stance that had most of the girls lusting for him, as well as that look within his amused brown eyes when staring up at the hotel camera, it was a look that held nothing more than a declaration of an challenge. As if he was goading them to _try and catch him, if they can._ The picturetold Coulson that not only was the man arrogant but he had a sense of flair, confirming his hunch that the assassin would be within the ballroom of the mansion.

As Coulson descended down the stairs, with the lovely Natasha Romanova on his arm, he stared across the room where Agent Barton was stationed. Barton was standing in the corner of the room with a glass of bourbon in his hand; he had blended into the crowd perfectly and was silently watching. Agent Barton, who was also known as Hawkeye was known to watch, it was what he did and was highly commended for it.

However, as Coulson saw all this, his gut started to clench. His instincts were screaming at him, that _something was wrong, he had to move. Get to Barton. NOW. _

Never been one to ignore his instincts, after all it had saved his life more times than he could count, Coulson increased his pace and quickly reached Barton asking for a report.

Agent Romanova, whose instincts were warning her that something wasn't right, stayed silent as Coulson moved towards her partner. As Barton reported that nothing special had caught his eye, Natasha frowned.

Being taught from early on that everyone had a weakness, that there was _always_ a flaw in a plan, the Black Widow was having trouble figuring out why The Iron Man was always two steps ahead of them.

However, her trail of thought came to an abrupt halt as movement from behind alerted not only her but the other two agents at her side. As they moved for a defensive stance, a hand shot out that contained a small sealable bag of blueberries. Following the hand up to its owner, Natasha Romanova locked eyes for the first time with the infamous assassin causing her chest to slowly tighten from the familiarity she saw within them.

"Blueberry, Agents?" spoke Iron Man, who continued to hold out his bag of blueberries in an open gesture whilst an obnoxious smirk danced upon on his lips.

With no movement coming from the three agents, the assassin shrugged and popped several blueberries into his mouth, moaning as he enjoyed the sweet berry. As the agents in his vicinity snapped out of their shock, they each simultaneously moved to grab their weapons. Observing all this, he continued to slouch lazily upon the wall in the corner and munched on his blueberries.

"Easy Agent's, wouldn't want to scare all these _innocent_ people here, now would we?" asked the amused assassin.

Agent Coulson, who had not anticipated this event but was entirely unamused with the man in front of him, fought to keep up his unflappable mask and responded firmly, "if you do not wish to scare these individuals, I suggest you come with us, Iron Man."

"And what, pray tell would happen if I were not to cooperate, Agent?"

"I will have you detained and put in a cell faster than you pop those blueberries into your mouth," threatened Fury's right hand man. Despite the fact that Coulson would never lock the young man standing in front of him into a cell and throw the key away, (because there was something so _achingly_ familiar about this situation) the man in front of him did not know that. So he remained firm and strengthened his intimidating stance that usually had others scrambling to obey his wishes.

"My, my I guess the rumors of your _grandeur_ were highly understated, Agent. However, despite your promises of making me rot in a cell, I believe I have much better things to do than go with you and chat with Cyclops."

Agent Barton, who had remained silent up to this point, forced down the amusement building in his chest. Despite his position of bringing in the assassin, the archer certainly liked him. Anyone who called Director Fury, 'Cyclops' was definitely someone who would get along with Clint. However, before Clint could speak up, The Iron Man disappeared into the shadows, leaving the bag of blueberries on the floor to be the only evidence to confirm that the assassin once stood there.

XXX

After speaking with the SHIELD agents briefly, The Iron Man knew exactly what he was dealing with. He knew that no matter what, the agents were not going down without a fight. They were determined to bring him in to Fury and were not afraid to bring out the big guns. Knowing this, he was wary to say the least, after all the entire plan rested unknowingly in the agent's hands and if _one_ thing was out of place then the whole operation would crash and burn.

After rechecking the essentials for the plan, he composed himself once again, not giving away a single thing but allowing himself to be partially seen by the security cameras in order to capture him and accordingly putting himself in the position that the SHIELD agent on tech support could pinpoint his exact movements anytime.

Listening in to the comm. system in his ear that was hacked into SHIELD's 'secure' line, he smirked as the agents swiftly moved to his position. Continuing to walk across the hallway, the assassin fought his instincts of reacting to Barton's position above him in the air ducts, to Romanova's position in the shadows behind him and Coulson's 'hidden' position at the end of the hall consisting of back up of two other agents.

Seconds after the assassin has catalogued the position of all the agents, they all moved into unison, surrounding him like a group of predators zoning in on their prey.

"Stand down, Iron Man. I have orders to take you down if the circumstances require it. So I suggest you do what I tell you or things are about to get unpleasant,"

"If there was one thing that you should know by now Agent, is that I _never_ go down without a fight," with that being said he moved with such grace as he got a hit on The Widow, she grunted as the force of the hit most definitely bruised her ribs as well as sending her knife scrambling down the hall.

As the fight continued, The Iron Man was able to hold himself quite efficiently in the fight despite the fight being five on one. But the assassin knew time would soon run out and he had to get caught. So, he targeted his offense onto Agent Coulson, making it seem as if he found the Agent the only real threat within the room resulting in the Widow being able to take him down from behind with a electrostatic charge from the weapon that she adored, the Widows Bite. As he fell, she held the back of his neck in a hold that put him in a position to have his neck snapped, oh so easily.

Iron Man signaled a surrender as the agents clasped handcuffs onto his wrists. As they hauled him up, he panted to the Widow, "you win this time, doll but next time, I do believe your _bite_ won't save you."

The Black Widow growled as she stepped closer to him, "call me _doll _again and I'll show you all 57 ways of how I could kill you only with those handcuffs_._"

The assassin in handcuffs, chuckled at the threat and purred, "I do hope you like to keep your word, Widow." As he grunted from the elbow slamming into his gut, the agents reported their 'success' to Fury, as they pushed him towards the door, making sure they were able to exit the mansion without any civilians noticing.

As they exited the mansion, he remained silent as he sensed the waves of smugness coming from the agents at their success of his capture. But as they pulled him near the SHIELD car, he closely watched Coulson, who was watching the security feeds in the ballroom.

Within the ballroom, stood every single guest as they listened to Mr. Smith's speech on the advancements his company has made on the research conducted on developing cleaner, mechanical fission and fusion power plants. They listened to his request for the individuals in the room to support this endeavor and the promise of ensuring a better world for everyone. However, as his speech drew to an end and the audience moved to applause, two clear shots fired through the room. The first hit Smith straight through the groin and the other was a clean shot to the centre of his head.

The signature shot of The Iron Man.

As the crowd panicked, screaming and looking for an escape, the room erupted into flames as the candles spread around the room fell to the ground by the panicked crowd, reacting with the unseen substance, thus igniting the flames. And as the flames trapped the crowd within the room, various bombs throughout the mansion detonated, leaving the mansion fighting to stay upright.

As Agent Coulson watched all this, he looked up at the assassin dropping his mask to showcase his horror. Snapping out of his shock, he barked orders to the other agents except Widow, ordering them to handle the situation within the mansion as moved towards the man at cause for the chaos and desolation; however, he did not foresee the upcoming movement. The assassin's move was quick, _too _quick; sending him sprawling to the ground, and the Widow was quick to follow as the man broke into a run. And as Coulson succumbed to the darkness, he sent a silent plea towards the Widow that she would catch the man. Because, despite not possessing the ability to see into the future, Agent Coulson was certain that from here on in, things were about to get a whole lot worse for the young assassin, something the agent did not desire for the young man.

XXX

_Damn_, he was fucking fast, thought Natasha. Having sprinted into a run after Iron Man took Coulson down; Natasha thought she would have caught up to him by now. But the man was definitely fast and despite the blow to her ego, she was able to admit that he was just fucking _good. _However, Natasha Romanova's instincts were about as good as Agent Coulson's and she too knew that if she was not able to catch the assassin, then the government would not rest until they had destroyed The Iron Man. And Natasha, who had nearly been in that position herself if Clint had not stepped up and given her an ultimatum, knew just how hard that life would be. Therefore, despite knowing the amount of fury and wrath she would be objected to after this, she made a move that could easily declare her as compromised.

"Wait! Just wait. Listen to me for a sec, please?" as she shouted her plea to the assassin, her tone softened causing the other to slowly pause. "You know who I am, don't you? About my past? How I use to be in your shoes.. So, you damn well know that I know how it feels when the whole world is against you, to constantly be on the run, keeping your guard up at all times. _Being alone_. But if you come with me, if you take my hand, I can give you a second chance at life, to give you a chance to try and _wipe out _the red in your ledger," she spoke softly and hit every single spot that she knew personally would hit the assassin harder than any blow ever could. For she knew that she would always be grateful to Clint for giving her this exact chance all those years ago and never once regretted taking Clint's hand. She only hoped that the man in front of her would do the same.

But as he started to laugh bitterly she knew that things were about to go downhill, "_Second chance_, she says. _Wipe the red out of my ledger, _she says. Tell me, oh wise one, how the fuck do I wipe out a ledger that is gushing with red? How –"

"You do it as you do anything else, one step at a time. You think my ledger was any different from yours? _No._ But I was given this chance many years ago and I took it. And now? The red lessens rather than gains."

"And you think I want that?"

"I was you once; of course you want that."

However, after a beat of silence, the escaping assassin slowly spoke, "I appreciate the offer, I really do but –"

"You're going to run. _Why?_' ever since she was a little girl, one thing that had never left her, despite the Red Room insistence, was her curiosity, the desire for knowledge.

"I have my reasons. But thank you,"

"Don't thank me yet. You know I'm going to be ordered to hunt down your ass."

"I would love to see you try, doll" smirked the soon-to-be hunted assassin.

"I always love challenges," responded Natasha with her own smirk.

"Until next time then, my lady," winked Iron Man as he turned to walk away, knowing that Romanova would let him go.

"_Who are you?" _Natasha's curious nature sent the question spurting from her lips, for in the three years that SHIELD had been hunting down the assassin, no one had been able to get any hint of a name except for the moniker Iron Man.

Hearing the question from Romanova, Iron Man continued to walk away but spoke without turning, "Many know me as Iron Man. But I'm also known as Cerrera."

"Antonnio Cerrera."

XXX

Cerrera.

Antonnio Cerrera.

Also know by many as Iron Man.

They are names whispered both fearfully and reverently across the world as they belong to a man known to be as cold and unrelenting as his moniker. However, many did not know that the man was no different from any other individual, except for his story.

The story of Antonnio Cerrera is one that is long and colored, full of pain, misery and darkness.

This is his story.

XXX

_**Hey guys! So new story. Ahhhhhh. Please review and tell me what to think! Reviews are amazing and I absolutely adore them. So click on the button and go wild. Also I referenced an amazing movie in this chapter, anyone who guesses which movie that was, gains many kudos and an amazing Tony Stark gif. Goooood Luuuuuck. **_

_**- WayToPretty.**_


End file.
